Day Ten

Good morning all! I'm a bit tired at the moment, so please excuse any excess words, or unmanagable sentences. Though to tell this story, I should start at the beginning... where we left off yesterday.

Turning tides- by yours truly

Yesterday afternoon, on an adventurous streak, I took off to find some hidden falls, north of where I am. Scribbled on a post-it I had directions given to me by a friend, and I clasped it in my left hand, while I navigated the roads, looking for all of the landmarks. It wasn't until around 6pm I found the trail, locked up my car, grabbed my camera, and started the hike. The first part of the trail was almost impossible to find; just a dirt path overgrown by wildflowers and plants. Skirting through the chest high brush, I found my way.

A pine ladden floor directed by path, in and out of trees. I surmise this area experienced the micro-bursts which occured near the campsite, due to the massive numbers of full grown trees ripped up, roots and all, and laid down. At times the path was a great mystery. A triplet tree blocked my path; three trunks connected to the same set of roots. To manuever my way through I had to climb over the first fallen tree, under the second, and hurdle the third. I felt a little bit like an army recruit in training. Run, dive, go under the wire, climb the wall...

The path to the falls follows the river from the bridge, to the zenith, down to the base of the falls. The beginning of the path weaves in and out of the forest, allowing hikers to venture out onto the glacial boulders in the river, and then diverge back deeper into the woods. The path splits at one point, one section continuing through narrow valley surrounded by tall pines growing out of the ground at unreal angles. At the end of this path you can climb out upon the large stone outcroppings just at the break of the falls, and stand taking pictures. Moss and the water itself make these rocks a little slippery though; I nearly lost my footing a few times.

Scrambling back to the path, I took the other fork, and found myself climbing up even higher. At this point the path leads you to the base of the falls, but in a mirror to the falls, very steeply. There are a few pictures I took trying to show this. I spent a great deal of the way down on my bum, trying not to slip. Switching tactics, I went down backwards, moving like a climber back and forth over the escarpment, following and grasping roots. At the base, I quickly moved to the rocky beach at the base of the falls to take pictures.

I didn't venture much more, as the sky turned quickly dark, far to early to be related to the sunset. I dashed up the hill again; a feat to say the least. Running along the path, I could barely see. All I could think of was a children's book I remember having read to me as a child. It starts off "We're going on a bear hunt, gonna catch a big one, I'm not scared... can't go over it, can't go under it, gotta go through it...". At the climax of the book the family on the bear hunt find the bear, and the next few pages involve them running back to their house, through all of the obstacles they crossed earlier. That's what I felt I was doing. I jogged through the forest, over the fallen trees, and under a few. When I reached the mouth of the path and I heard the threatening creak and crack of an overhead tree I made a mad dash for my car.

As I unlocked the door and jumped inside large raindrops started to fall on my windshield. With the aid of my local map (thanks Dad!) I found my way to a shortcut that would lead me back to camp. As I drove, I beat the rain out, making my way ahead of the storm front. Stopping only to check in at the campsite, I made it back to camp seeing lightening and thunder follow me. As the rain finally caught up with me, I readied the camper by pulling the canopy down sharply.

The rain was like a flood, and within a few minutes the ground surrounding my campsite was mud. Rain poured off the camper in many places. Lightening would flash, and no more than a few seconds later the thunder rumbled and cracked back. The firework display in the sky was so frequent, only seconds passed between each pair. I'll admit I was a bit frightened. I had to shout to be heard, though you may ask who I was talking to. My security blankets; mom and dad.

Zipping the camper up tight, grabbing my pillow and wrapping it in my raincoat, and securing the canopy I dashed for the car, and drove back to my new place. We made the decision it was probably best I stayed there, seeing as the only change of clothing I had were my pjs, and I was soaked and muddy from the rain. The twenty minute drive was frightening, and I don't think I ever reached the speed limit. Wipers at their highest speed, and still I couldn't see the road. Lightening and thunder continued their symphony, making me jump quite a few times. I tried to capture a few pictures of it, placing my camera upward on the dashboard, clicking everytime the lightening flashed. I did get a few pictures of clouds lit up right after the lightening. I made it back to my new place safely, though my phone died on the way. The storm continued throughout most of the night, waking me up quite a few times when the thunder cracked loudly.

It is currently 55ºF out, and very damp from the storms. I'm happy I stayed in town last night, because goodness knows I would've scared much easier at the camper. I'll head out there this afternoon to check on things, and make sure the camper survived.

I hope you all enjoy the pictures, because even though I was scared, I loved taking them.

Today's quote is a favorite of mine. It's about remembering joy, and staying positive. "Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn't people feel as free to delight in whatever sunlight remains to them?" - Rose Kennedy